Aroldis Chapman has emerged as one of the top closers in the league. Heath Bell continues to give fantasy owners fits. Unsurprisingly Rafael Dolis and Brandon League have lost their respective jobs. Let’s see how these stories and all the rest impact our closer rankings:

Joe Nathan hasn’t just been good as of late, he’s been absolutely dominant. He allowed 1 hit in his appearance on 5/29, the first time he has allowed a hit or walk since May 13. In his past 7 appearances he’s allowed 0 ER on 1 H and 0 BB, striking out 10, over 7 innings (notching 4 saves). He certainly is looking like the Nathan of old, doesn’t he?

It has become clear that pitching as the closer has not affected Arolodis Chapman in the least. In his last 4 outings he has 1 W, 3 SV and 6 K while allowing 0 H and 1 BB. On the season he has a 0.00 ERA, 0.58 WHIP and 44 K over 26.0 IP. He could ultimately be the #1 option before long.

I had my concerns about Chris Perez entering the season, but right now he is looking like one of the elite closers in the game. In his past 7 appearances he hasn’t allowed a run, striking out 10 and saving 6 games. With a 2.66 ERA, 1.03 WHIP and 17 saves it is hard not to like him, isn’t it?

Who is the closer in Los Angeles? Is it Scott Downs? Is it Ernesto Frieri? Is there a committee? For now we’re sticking with Downs on the rankings, but stashing Frieri would definitely be a smart move.

Heath Bell has picked up saves in three straight appearances, but how many chances is he going to get to blow up only to be handed the job back (he was pulled from back-to-back save chances just days earlier)? Until he can produce for a long stretch, he has to be held down on these rankings.

All we know in Seattle is that Brandon League is out. While they have yet to get a save opportunity so we can actually see who is going to close, my money is on Tom Wilhelmsen. Given the way some closers in the league have pitched, he’s got a good chance of being a CL2 almost immediately with his strikeout ability.

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I definitely could see him getting the job back before long. It’s not like the Mariners are handing the job to a surefire replacement, so if Wilhelmsen struggles, League definitely could walk right back into the role once he gets right.

That’s a very fair gripe. I’m not going to say that I love Aceves and, as you said, he was shaky in the past week.

We do need to see what Wilhelmsen can still do in the role, so flipping those two is fair. At the same time, I wouldn’t consider either more than a CL3 as their overall numbers (outside of the saves) are close.